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Creatures of Ice
Creatures of Ice is the first story centering around The Fitz-Simmons Detective Agency. Chapter One Nothing could be heard because the sound of the rain that was cascading thickly onto the quiet city street was almost deafening. Many of its occupants were comfortably warm within their homes, watching as the rain spilled onto the road and into the drain. All were in their homes, in fact. All, except for a young brown-haired man who had just turned onto the street. A few moments later, the adolescent - aged around fifteen - realized that he was being tailed, and hastened his pace. He couldn't see who was following him, as the person was staying in the shadows, but he could tell by their light, quick steps that they were wearing shoes suitable for a chase, if necessary. They sound light, the boy thought to himself. Probably a woman, although I shouldn't be quick to judge. He paused slightly, and bent down to tie his laces, despite the fact that they were already secure. Whatever their gender, they won't want to reveal their true intentions. Sure enough, the person's pace slowed noticeably, but they strutted passed the boy nonetheless. As she - it turned out she was a woman - passed him, he glanced up swiftly at her face, but failed to recognize any features. He cursed silently under his breath, and proceeded to continue walking, the woman now in front of him. Late teens, early twenties, He deduced by her height. Seems to be walking with a faint limp; perhaps an injury earlier in the week? The woman began to walk more quickly, and he hastened to match his pace to hers. The downpour continued, and the boy witnessed the woman almost slip. However, she steadied herself, before continuing to march down the street. As they neared the end of the road, the woman abruptly stopped and turned. The boy would have collided with her had his senses not been so acute. Before he could say anything, the woman blurted out, "You are Dorian Fitz-Simmons of zee Fitz-Simmons detective agency?" Most people wouldn't have heard the faint hint of French in her voice, but the boy did. "Depends on who's asking." The boy - Dorian - replied calmly. "I need your help," the woman said, and her voice quivered slightly, before she continued. "My name is Adèle, and there is something...wrong with my son." Dorian raised an eyebrow, before denying her request. "I am sorry but I am off-duty. Besides, he's probably only stressed or something. How bad can this kid be?" He tried to side-step past her, but the woman - Adèle - wouldn't let him. Before she could speak, however, Dorian stopped her. "Listen, I truly am sorry, but nothing you say can make me take a case this late at night. Especially a case that is most likely a waste of time." He was about to say something else, but Adèle cut across him, tears now forming in her eyes. "Jonathan has been speaking to me, in an unnaturally impure voice. As if raised from the depths of Hell itself." Dorian waved it aside. "He probably heard the voice on the television and is simply mimicking it." Adèle stared into his eyes, and he held her gaze. "You didn't let me finish," she said quietly. "Jonathan is an infant - barely a few months old - and speaking in full sentences. In an inhuman voice." Dorian's eyes widened, but he didn't show and other sign of recognition. She is still gazing at me, her hands by her sides. Either she does not have a tell... "Or she's telling the truth," he finished aloud. Ignoring Adèle's questioning look, he twirled around and began formulating an arrangement for the rest of the evening. "Seeing as there's nothing else for me to do tonight," he said, mostly to himself, but also to Adèle. "I should be able to go investigate and make an observation on this child before anyone - and by anyone I mean Ariel - notices that I am absent. But who to ask to accompany me?" He twirled back around to face Adèle, although he was still mostly talking to himself. "Isabelle is out of the question, she would go straight to Ariel with any proposal I had made to her; Jerome is still injured from that ordeal with the Ophies Pteretoi, so that leaves Clara!" He pulled out a mobile phone and quickly dialed a number, Adèle still standing there flabbergasted. "Come on, come on," he said as the phone rang. "Ah, Clara!" After a quick exchange, he ended the call and returned his attention to Adèle, a smile on his face. "Lucky for you, Miss...?" He began. "Luivrey." Adèle interjected. "Lucky for you, Miss Luivrey, my curiosity has gotten the better of me. I will investigate your "inhuman" son, and a colleague of mine will be joining us. Off we go!" He motioned for her to lead the way, and they walked back the way they had come. ---- Once they had reached Adèle's house, Dorian again pulled out a mobile and made a call, presumably telling Clara his location. Clara was apparently already in the surrounding area, for it only took her a few minutes to reach the house, which was at least a ten minute walk from the street Adèle had found Dorian on. "Clara Guerrero," Clara introduced herself to Adèle. "I assume you're Adèle?" Adèle nodded, but stayed silent as she pushed open the door. "Adèle believes that her son has been...possessed, for lack of a better word," Dorian told Clara as they entered the threshold. "She claims that he is speaking in full sentences, despite him still being a under the age of three. His voice was described - by her, of course - as "unnatural" and "impure"." "Okay," Clara said calmly as they made their way through the corridor. "Where's the boy?" "Upstairs." Dorian stated, before Adèle had the chance. "How did you know?" She said hesitantly as she stared at him. "Upon entering your home - it is lovely, by the way - I observed that to the left of this corridor is the kitchen and to the right is the living room. Now, with most houses, bedrooms are usually on the top floor, as it is just human instinct to be as high up from the ground as possible, due to our oldest genes. Also, although there are toys scattered all over the house, the majority of them are on the staircase, as if you were trying to carry them upstairs, while also carrying something else, around a baby's size." Adèle opened her mouth in the shape of an 'O' as Dorian said all this without taking a breath. Clara, on the other hand, was seemingly used to it, and continued as normal. "Shall we?" She asked, and without waiting for a reply, made her way upstairs. Dorian followed suit, with Adèle right behind him. They entered the room Adèle motioned towards, and found themselves staring at a baby in a cot. "Jonathan?" Clara's tone was questioning, and Dorian nodded in confirmation. The boy's head lifted, at the sound of his name. He sat himself up, and Clara gasped in shock. "I'm no expert, but I take it babies that are a few months old aren't supposed to be able to hold their own weight?" Clara ignored Dorian's comment, and inched her way closer to the cot. "How often does...Jonathan speak to you in this voice?" She asked Adèle. "Whenever he is awake, it is all I hear," Adèle answered, and tears were again forming in her eyes. "I am scared deeply- horrified, if you will. But there is nothing I can do. No one I could tell. Until I discovered your...organization." "Speaking of which," Dorian began, with a curious expression on his face. "How did you discover us? I mean, a quick search on the internet - done correctly - could give you our number so you can make an appointment, but you seemed to know exactly who I was, and where I was. Who are you?" "I have already told you who I am," Adèle replied. "As to how I discovered you; a friend of mine expressed is gratitude towards you, and told me you might be able to help with my problem." "Which friend?" Clara asked absently, as she examined some of Jonathan's toys. "Mr. Dougon," Adèle said, but before she could say anything else, Dorian groaned. "We should never have taken on that case," he exclaimed to Clara. "All it did was get Jerome hurt, and make Ariel not trust me to accept cases. Which reminds me, she doesn't know you're here?" "Not a clue," Clara said with a smile. "Hello? Master of disguise and espionage." Dorian nodded approvingly, but before anyone could say anything else, a voice emanated from the cot. "Who has awoken me from my slumber, mother?" It said in an unnaturally deep voice, although the 'mother' at the end took some of the intimidation away. "F-friends, Jonathan dear," Adèle stuttered. "Friends who can h-help you." The entity within the baby growled - for now they all knew that whatever it was, it wasn't a baby - and its eyes shone a sparkling sky blue. "HOW DARE YOU?!" it growled deeply. "HOW DARE YOU REQUEST HELP WHEN I REQUIRE NONE?!" Adèle collapsed onto her knees next to the cot, seemingly pleading for forgiveness. Clara, who had backed away to the door, watched as Dorian approached the "baby". "What are you?" He asked calmly, and it was as if he was speaking to himself. "A creature who needs to take the form of a mortal infant? If you are so powerful, why take the form of the weakest thing on this planet?" They all heard a horrible scraping sound, like metal on metal, and realized that the entity must be laughing. The sky blue in its eyes faded away. "Think again before calling your kind's infants weak," it said deeply. "They are the only beings on this earth that have the ability to hold one as great as I am." "I see you're a bit arrogant," Clara said, before she could stop herself. "But I guess that's a given for any villain." "YOU BELIEVE I AM A VILLAIN?!" It screamed at them, the sparkling blue returning to its eyes. "I WILL BE THE SAVIOR OF THIS WRETCHED PLANET!" The baby's skin began to turn blue, and then faded back to normal. This continued for a few moments, until Dorian realized- "It's pulsing." Frost began to form around the cot, and, because Adèle was so close, on her too. Dorian's eyes widened and he said, "We need to get out of here- now!" He rushed forward to Adèle and so did Clara, and they attempted to pries her hands off of the cot. "It's like they're frozen on!" Clara said to Dorian, as a particularly bright pulse blinded them momentarily. "Adèle, you need to help us help you!" Adèle ignored Dorian's cry, and continued to beg the "baby" for forgiveness. Dorian locked eyes with Clara's, and they both realized simultaneously; they would have to leave Adèle. "The pulses are less than ten seconds apart now!" Clara screamed to him over the sound of the ice tornado that had formed in the middle of the room. It wasn't strong enough to pull them in, but it would be soon enough. "We can't make it to the door! How will we get out in time?" Dorian glanced around him and noticed the curtains. He grabbed Clara's hand, pulled open the curtain, and jumped onto the balcony. Then he turned to face her, as the downpour continued to fall. "We're going to have to jump," he told her, and before he could explain, still holding her hand, they jumped over the balcony, and landed on a pile of dead leaves, just as the top floor exploded with frost. Dorian maneuvered the fall so that Clara would land on top of him, but she rolled off after a few moments. "Please tell me you knew these were here," she gasped for breath. "Of course I did," Dorian said as he stood up and dusted himself off. "I saw the pile as we entered the house. Now come on!" They smashed open the front door and ran upstairs. There was frost on the top of the staircase, and around the upstairs floor, but the worst of the damage was in the bedroom. It was as if the room itself was a giant block of ice. Adèle was still on her knees next to the cot, and the baby's eyes were no longer blue, so they knew the entity had abandoned its vessel. "What on earth have we gotten ourselves into?" Clara asked after a moment. "I don't know," Dorian replied, and there was a hint of curiosity in his voice. "But I can't wait to find out." Chapter Two Dorian and Clara returned back to the house where they held their base of operations. It was a few streets away from the road where Dorian had met Adèle, although on their way back they avoided that particular street. "Is anyone awake?" Dorian asked suddenly as they neared the house. "Certainly it is past midnight, but Ari might still be...adjusting that gun our dad was working on." "Everyone should be out for the night," Clara said, shaking her head. She placed her key into the lock and turned it. "Jerome is still in the medical room from last week's case, and Isabelle hasn't left his side. Ariel doesn't really like staying up alone so she'll probably have fallen asleep ages ago." Just as the words left her mouth, the door swung open and they found Ariel standing at the staircase angrily, her brown hair waving form the wind that entered the house as they did. She was dressed in her night clothes, but was as alert and awake as always. "I wonder where you two have been," she said sarcastically as they exchanged a look. "I mean honestly. If you wanted some 'time alone' to make out or go on a date or whatever, you could have at least lied about it instead of running out during the night!" "That's not what we were doing," Dorian said, seemingly not noticing Clara's embarrassed expression. "Clara was helping me...with a case." Ariel's eyes widened and she seemed moments away from exploding in anger. Clara, however, noticed this, and quickly blurted out "He was helping me." Ariel raised her eyebrow. "Really? Dory was helping you with a case? I thought you didn't like taking on cases." "I've told you not to call me that," Dorian snapped. He then caught Clara's eye. "And yes..." he said as he turned away from her. "Clara procured a small case, fit for two people." "Well, what is it?" Ariel asked suspiciously. "Nothing of importance to you," Dorian said dismissively. "Just-" "A bridge," Clara said hastily. "There have been multiple car accidents on a certain bridge a few miles from here; I thought we should check it out." "And?" Ariel asked impatiently. "What did you find?" "Nothing yet, but we'll be sure to tell you if anything crops up." Ariel nodded slightly. "Well, I'll be returning to my room." "As will I," Dorian told her, and Clara nodded in agreement. Ariel stared at them for a moment before turning and walking up the stairs. Dorian and Clara followed suit, entering their respective rooms and shutting the doors. Clara sighed as she removed her coat and threw it onto the bed. She collapsed onto her chair and wondered to herself how extraordinary what they had experienced in the house was. It took her a few minutes to get over the fact that Dorian had called her to help him as she made her way to the address that he had told her. Once she arrived and had introduced herself to Adèle, she assumed this would be another 'dead' case. Other than last week, they hadn't had a truly interesting case in months. However, when the entity began speaking, the full excitement she hadn't felt in ages soon returned. If only they could have gotten Adèle out in time...or had had the chance to collect something to examine. That's when she noticed the crystal flecks on the back of her coat. Clara jumped up to the bed and saw that there were flecks of ice covering the back. She hesitated for only a moment, before running to the door and pulling it open, only to find Dorian standing there. "I was just coming to look for you," Clara whispered quickly, not wanting to wake Ariel, whose room was only a few meters away. "I found-" "Flecks of ice," Dorian finished for her. "I know. I saw them collect on the back of your coat once the tornado-like gust of wind began." "Why didn't you tell me?" She whispered furiously. "Because you didn't need to know," he replied simply. "Now come on. I've set everything up in the lab so that I can test the ice flecks." He grabbed her hand and started to pull her downstairs, before she stopped him. "I can't!" She said, and she sounded sincere. "I promised Jerome that I would go visit him in the medical room." She stared at Dorian, waiting for reaction. He seemed fine, but she could see the annoyance in his eyes. "Very well," he said slowly, and grabbed the coat from her hands. "Go. I'll let you know if I find anything." Clara watched him go, and despite the way he nonchalantly brushed it off, she could tell that he was irritated. Before he was fully obscured from sight, Clara turned and ran up the stairs, making her way to the medical room. When she was a few steps away, she could vaguely hear the voices inside the room. "...And Nadina says I could've died," Jerome's sickly voice echoed through the barely open door. He had been bitten by a Ophies Pteretoi - a winged serpent - and no-one had known that they carried poison in their fangs until Jerome had collapsed less than an hour later. They had managed to get him to Nadina Lione, their medic, before any permanent damage could take place. "Well, I'm glad you made it through." Isabelle's voice was shaking as if she had been crying. Clara pushed open the door fully and took in the scene before her; Jerome was lying on one of their three hospital beds, a bandage around his bare chest. Isabelle's hand lay in his, although she quickly withdrew it as Clara entered the room. "Jerome, how are you feeling?" She asked him hesitantly. "I hope I'm not intruding; I just thought I should come and check up on you." "No, not at all," he said, sitting up. "It's a pleasure to see you. I've been feeling better; that salve Nadina gave me seemed to do the trick." "That's great," Clara said with a smile, but she failed to notice Isabelle glare at her pointedly. "So what did you do today?" Jerome asked Clara after a moments silence. "I went," she began, before remembering that no-one was supposed to know the reality of where she was, "investigating. A bridge. It's a long story." "Well I'd love to hear it," Jerome said with a grin. Before anyone could say anything else, Henry, the Fitz-Simmons Agency's medical nurse, walked out of the office at the back of the room. "You two had better leave," he said to Isabelle and Clara. "Dr. Lione thinks Jerome should be getting rest, so she won't be pleased with you keeping him up." "Yeah, yeah, Henry," Clara said, before Jerome could protest. "We're leaving." At that, her and Isabelle walked out of the room. Why would she pause investigating to visit Jerome? Dorian thought to himself as he walked swiftly down the staircase. Surely she would rather be on the verge of a scientific discovery than visiting someone she could see at any time? He shook his head as he entered the basement where they had set up the laboratory when they had moved into the building almost eight months ago. When the idea of forming a supernatural detective agency had first come to him, it had taken quite a bit of persuasion to convince the others. Once they had come around, they set to work on deciding a location. Ariel had immediately suggested London - which the others were excited about - and once everybody had gotten permission, they were all set- Other than the fact that they needed a building. With a little help from their parents, they discovered the abandoned four floored apartment building- five, if you included the basement. With a few adjustments, it was the perfect headquarters. "If it wasn't for the wallpaper," Dorian said aloud, referring to the clowns that stared out of every bedroom wall. They had been meaning to change them, but no-one had had the time. They had had a rocky start, having no cases whatsoever for the first few months. But once they had established themselves as an official agency, cases were being found around every corner. Dorian placed the coat gently onto a table and used a pair of forceps to carefully remove a few flecks of ice from it and place them onto a microscopic slide. He then proceeded to scan it and, while waiting for the results, placed the slide onto a microscope and examined it. "The ice crystals seem to be moving slightly..." he said and turned, before remembering that there was nobody else there. "I wonder why," he turned back, now consciously talking to himself. "Maybe the volume of-" He was interrupted by a loud beep emitting from the screen connected to the scanner. He turned eagerly towards it and quickly skimmed through the information, before his eyes landed on a particular equation that made him gasp slightly. "H4O2...How can this exist? It isn't possible to find this compound." Dorian stared intently at the flecks of ice. "I think it's time to let everyone else know," Dorian began to himself. "That it seems we are dealing with an impossible compound. ---- Almost everyone answered Dorian's summon immediately; Jerome had even taken to video chat. The only person who appeared reluctant was Ariel; she seemed to have ignored the summoning, at any rate. "What's this a-a-about, Dorian?" Isabelle asked from the sofa, failing to stifle a yawn. "You drag us out of bed at one in the morning-" "Surely not," Dorian interrupted, before glancing at the clock and seeing that she was correct. "Well I never. Clara and I must have arrived here later than I thought we had. At any rate," he continued, before anyone could stop him. "I know for a fact that at least five people in this house weren't in bed, not including myself. Nadina and Henry were tending to Jerome-" He paused, and looked to Jerome for confirmation, who proceeded to nod. He noticed how...awkward Clara and Isabelle were sitting side by side, but decided not to focus on it. "-and Clara had gone up to visit him," he finished happily. "I already knew that you wouldn't be asleep if Jerome was awake," he added as an afterthought to Isabelle. "The only person I cannot account for is the one person that wasn't here." "We can always fill her in afterwards," Nadina said ernestly; she seemed extremely eager, presumably because she knew Dorian would only drag everybody to the living room if he had made a discovery. Henry, who had taken it upon himself to agree with everything Nadina suggested, quickly nodded. "Very well," Dorian said, clearly pleased to finally be able to share what he had found. "I was on my way back here earlier this evening when I was stopped and recognized by a woman, a few streets away. She told me of a few issues she believed her son had, and asked me to investigate. I agreed, and called Clara, asking her to come and help me-" "You told me it was a bridge case!" Jerome interrupted indignantly, and Clara smiled at him apologetically. Before she could explain herself, however, Dorian continued. "Clara, the woman, and I arrived at the house. We climbed up the stairs-" "We don't need the whole story, Dorian," Isabelle said, ignoring his annoyance at being interrupted again. "Just give us the important details." Dorian sighed. "Fine, but I don't see the fun in that. It turns out the woman's son was possessed by an ancient entity, and when we angered it it exploded in ice, freezing everything in the room at the time, including the woman. Clara managed to retrieve a few ice flecks, and after a thorough investigation, I have learned that it was made up of H4O2. This is highly unusual - not to mention impossible - as we all know that water is made up of H2O. This leads me to believe that, whatever this entity was, it isn't from the world. Or dimension. Or realm. Whatever floats your boat, really. That's why I think it's time to open up a full investigation. "All those in favour?" Clara said immediately, thinking that if they had time to mull things over, they may disagree. Everybody raised one of their hands. "Then it is settled," Dorian said happily. "Seeing as it is late, I will let you all return to your rooms, and we can discuss our next step then." At that dismissal, Isabelle jumped out of her seat and sprinted from the room, presumably rushing to see Jerome in the medical room. Clara had a sudden surge of a strange feeling, one she had felt many times before, but not towards this particular situation. She shook it off, not wanting to think more of it, and turned to see Nadina, Henry, and Dorian were deep in conversation. "This is incredible," Nadina said happily. "I'm going to go to the lab and have a look for myself; coming, Henry?" "Of course!" Henry replied, a little too quickly, and they rushed out of the room, shutting the door behind them. "That's an incredible discovery, Dorian," Clara said after a moments awkward silence; Clara had a feeling that Dorian was still annoyed at her for not going with him. "Thank you," he replied absently, shuffling a few papers before he turned to her. "Although I couldn't have done it without you." He smiled at her, and it was a warm smile; a smile she never would have imagined on Dorian, but loved the way his eyes crinkled as he did it, the way his lips curved slightly. "I didn't do anything," she said after a moment stepping away from him and beginning to turn to the door. "Not really." "Yes you did," Dorian said sharply and turned her to face him. "If you hadn't answered the phone I probably wouldn't have agreed to the case." "Then maybe Adèle would still be alive," Clara snapped, slightly harsher than she meant to. "Adèle would have died soon enough if she stayed with that thing." Dorian replied in the same tone. "Don't you ever downgrade yourself, Clara. Every person has certain skills and weaknesses; it's how we apply them to situations that show our 'worthiness', if you will- Although if you ask me, there isn't a single person on this planet unworthy or incapable of becoming worthy again, least of all not you." They were now an inch apart, and Clara could feel Dorian's warm breath on her cheeks. Before she knew what she was doing, she started to lean forward, closer to those lips she had seen smile at her a few minutes before. To her surprise, she saw Dorian do the same. Just as they were about to touch, the living room door burst open, Ariel walked in, and they sprung apart so quickly that Clara's leg hit the table. "What's with all the noise around the house?" Ariel asked, as Clara blushed furiously and avoided Dorian's eyes. "Have I missed something important?" Chapter Three WIP Category:Albus Chase Category:The Fitz-Simmons Detective Agency Category:Mystery